Her Last Breath of the Wild
by Jedi Heathcliff
Summary: Both Link and Alaya woke up to a darker world 100 years later... But where Link lost his memory, Alaya kept hers and the last thing she wanted was for Link to know that. Especially when she comes to realize Zelda hadn't meant to awaken her. OC/Link.
1. Prologue: The Strange and the Familiar

**Her Last Breath of the Wild**

 **Prologue: The Strange and the Familiar**

Her consciousness came to first. Brain waves flickered back on, her mind running through every memory at an intense speed. Loss, love, happiness, fear — death. Every positive emotion and every negative one was all a cluster in her mind as she struggled to sort through all of them with eyes still shut.

For the beginning moment of consciousness, she forgot how to manually breath. Finally, with mouth wide open, she sucked in the oxygen her lungs begged for just as her eyes shot open in a slight panic. She sat up to take in her surroundings — everything was so strange but slowly becoming familiar.

She had been laying in a tub of crystal blue water. With the water drained below the stone bed, she saw she was in a domed cave with pillars circling the room, a large metal double door at one end and the tub she sat in at the other. There were small steps leading down from the tub, and she tried walking after who knew how long she had been immobile. Her legs wobbled the first few steps. It wasn't until she reached the door that she found herself feeling normal sensations in her lower half again.

Placing her fingers in the crack, she tried prying the door open. Her muscles flared from the struggle and force she put into opening it. Of course, it was useless. Not so much as a budge.

She looked around, seeing a strange pedestal of glowing blue lines. She approached it, reaching for the object but it turned in its place, making her jump back.

The tablet with the Sheikah Eye at it's center turned and lifted, willing her to grab it from its place. Snatching it, she watched it light up and the double doors open. Her focus on the slate was gone, running out through the entry.

Immediately, she felt a cool breeze graze her bare skin. She looked down realizing that she was in nothing but her underwear. Goosebumps pricked at the surface of her pale flesh.

There were chests on either side of the entry-way. She took liberty at opening them, finding a tunic and shirt inside. As soon as she dressed, she took the slate back into her hands, turning it on to view a map and empty slot icons. Although she was very curious as to what else this tablet held, she knew she wouldn't find any answers standing around all alone in that cave.

Sunlight gently seeped through a small opening, touching a pool of water a few feet away from the chests.

Stepping out into the open air, she felt a sudden sense of freedom and joy — of relief.

"Well, I'm shocked to see there's another one of you."

Jumping in her skin, she spun her neck to where the voice was coming from.

An old man with a long white beard and locks to match stood with a stick and a hood to shadow his face. She could still see the smile underneath all the white. "The other one went towards those ruins over there. He can tell you everything I've told him. I wasn't planning on seeing another one of you. It's pleasant, I must say. This Great Plateau has been quite lonely."

She knew who he was which made it all the more odd at what he was saying — talking to her like she was an odd alien just now speaking to him for the first time in his life. Then again, the years have gone by and she wasn't sure what all has happened in those years. It might be best to keep quiet for now and find this 'other one' he spoke of.

Lifting his stick with a lantern hanging at the top, he pointed to the ruins of the Temple of Time a few hundred yards away in the distance.

Her feet wouldn't move. She was too much at a loss and too unsure how to approach the unfamiliar yet very familiar situation.

"Well, don't just stand there. Who knows how long the other one will stay at that ruin. After one-hundred years, it's in a state of decay and not much to look at."

Her eyes went wide. One hundred years?

She looked down at her pale, freckly flesh again just to make sure she was still the youthful twenty-year old she remembered she was.

Thankfully, she didn't look a day older.

As much as she wanted to open her mouth and spout all the questions running through her mind, his lack of acknowledgment of who she was made her think twice. It was best to figure out what was happening before she put anyone into shock and confusion. For all she knew, he was under a spell — at worse, under Ganon's spell.

"Here, let this help you on your journey." He handed over a torch.

With a raised brow, she looked at him, gripping the torch cautiously. If he expected her to use this as a weapon, he was insane. This thing wouldn't do much damage against even one creature. Fortunately, she couldn't see any monsters roaming about — yet.

With a courteous nod, she began walking down the grassy slope, making her way towards the Temple of Time.

As unsure as she was with what was happening, she still walked confidently to the location of the "other one". She just hoped that "other one" wasn't Ganon.


	2. The Sheikah Towers

**A/N:** There are obviously going to be spoiler in this story. This story will take its time since I am going through a lot of the stuff I've done and experienced in the game (and I have also not finished - not even close) so expect slow chapters with only my OC and Link. Hopefully that won't be too much of a problem haha!

Thank you for those who have followed and commented on this story. It means the world and keeps me writing! You are amazing!

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 **Her Last Breath of the Wild**

 **Chapter One: The Sheikah Towers**

Everything was much quieter.

The only sounds were of rustling leaves, swaying grass, and the splashing of water from the waterfalls. There was no laughter, no chatter, and no faces to be seen.

A strange feeling seeped well into her bones. Though the sun shone bright upon the brilliant green grass and the waters glimmered with life and serenity, the quietness felt eerie. The man with the white beard — King Rhoam of Hyrule — lived here for one hundred years all alone.

The daunting thoughts sent shivers down her spine. Maybe it was because she never truly liked to be alone that imagining him all alone made her slow down her pace in deep thought. The trek to the temple didn't appear to be long at first, but the more her brain ran through darker memories of the past, the longer the walk became.

She could remember every excruciating detail of the past before these last one-hundred years, yet she couldn't remember what happened right before she was placed to sleep in the bed of water. The last thing she did remember were the guardians lurching to life, destroying everything and everyone in their path with their laser-eyes and metal claws. Everything was ablaze that day —

Shaking her head, she kept her focus on the temple ahead. Tears were starting to prick her eyes and she couldn't allow such dark emotions to creep into her mind; not when she had a job to do.

A great heaviness kept her weighed down as she stalked the steps of the ruined temple. The place was in shambles; a sorrowful sight to see when she last saw it standing with dignity and beauty. Pillars that once towered to the skies were now crumbled down to her waist, the walls were no longer a creating a stronghold from the outside world but open to all the critters that scurried across the plains.

The darkness and emptiness she felt didn't match the sunny blue skies and calm, soothing breeze.

Crossing over the rubble, she saw a chest perched on one of the upturned floor stones. Just as she was about to race over to open it, she saw a sleeping Bokoblin with a club clenched in his hand. She felt that rising urge to wield a sword in her hands just like she had many times before.

She crouched. Her steps were slow and quiet, her breathing hushed. Her hands began to shake and she wondered if she would remember how to even fight at all. Lifting the torch, she brought it down one harsh swoosh, knocking the Bokoblin completely out.

It wasn't long before it's flesh and bones vanished into thin air, leaving behind its club.

She sighed with relief. No ruckus, no struggle, no injuries.

The club was chunky and very unimpressive. It was neither large nor small; it was neither heavy nor light, but very much a disappointment to her.

Running over to the chest, she kicked it open, reaching for what was inside: a sword.

Tossing the club off to the side, she smiled down at it's gleaming blade.

The sound of a bow string being pulled back broke her attention from the sword and onto the culprit of the draw.

Standing in rag-like clothes similar to her own was none-other than her dear friend Link. She wanted to break out into tears and hug him tightly seeing that the last battle of Calamity Ganon had not taken his life; however, seeing as he was pointing an arrow at her head, it didn't seem like he was too fond of seeing her.

Did he blame her for what happened between them both and Zelda?

She batted the tears away, forcing the thoughts out of her mind.

"I'm a friendly," she said. A small smile tried its way at the corners of her mouth.

He slowly lowered his bow, his blue eyes glistening in the rays of the sun. His long blond hair was tied in various ponytails and clipped up messily.

"Who are you?" he asked. His eyes narrowed at her, fierce and determined.

Admittedly, he was brave and fought hard, but she knew him. He acted the part of defiant when he was really wanting to escape or actually had fear in his heart.

"Alaya," she answered. A part of her felt relieved that he didn't remember her. The past was in the past and could truly be forgotten.

Alaya could start all over with him.

She forced another smile. "It looks like it's just us and that old man on the hill here… And a few Bokoblins. Can I keep you company then?" As useless of a liar as she was, it didn't matter much; Link was quite gullible, fortunately enough for her.

He gave one strong nod before walking down the steps and away from the temple. Looking back, a small part of her was curious to see its ruins. Of course, a larger part was grateful not to see the destruction that time has brought upon it.

Link was very much quiet as they made their way across the plains. Her eyes wandered up and down Link's toned back and his veiny hands. Every so often, she saw he was looking at her from the corner of his eyes, but whenever she came to meet his gaze, he quickly looked away.

A smirk plastered her face.

Alaya picked up her pace to match his, walking by his side. "So you don't remember anything either?"

He looked at her from the side again, never fully turning his head. "Nope — you think we knew each other back before all this?"

With every question, she knew she would have to pick the right answers. If she was going to successfully pull of amnesia just as the rest, she had to do it right. "I suppose. After all, we were both put in a shrine to sleep, were we not?"

He nodded but said nothing further.

The silence was always an annoyance to her. In the past, when she first met Link, he was just as he was now: quiet, short sentences. Not too talkative — even worse, distant. She longed for the days all those hundred years ago when they were friends and he always made an effort to converse with her.

"What did the old man tell you? He told me to ask you. All I've gotten so far is that it's one hundred years later from when we were put to sleep."

"He only spoke of the temple and how it's been in a state of decay since the fall of the kingdom long ago." He picked up a rock, finding a grasshopper underneath. He plucked it before it could fly away and tucked it into his pouch.

Alaya sighed. Rhoam was always so cryptic and uninformative even when it was deemed that information was necessary. Sometimes, she believed that he did it for amusement rather than wanting his people and staff to find their own way. She wanted to know what exactly he'd been doing for these last one hundred years — wanted to know why he was in commoner's clothing and not his royal robes. Of course, now was not the right time.

But she wasn't a patient Hylian.

"Look over there!" she suddenly shouted, making Link jump.

He followed her gaze, landing on the hill with a small stone entry of a pedestal similar to the one in the cave she woke in.

Alaya darted towards it with Link following suit. They stopped right before the pedestal. Link was the first to whip out the slate, placing it inside the slot. It began to glow blue and all at once the ground shook beneath them, causing the two to fall to the floor.

Looking down, she saw that they were rising high into the sky. Whatever they were on, it was very tall.

She grabbed Link's hand to hold herself steady, not bothering to look at his confused face as she kept her eyes on the shrinking earth below her.

Finally, the shaking stopped and she rose from the ground steadily.

Alaya saw the look on Link's face and immediately snatched her hand away as her cheeks went aflame. Link kept his eyes away from meeting her own, embarrassed at her forwardness.

All around Hyrule, Sheikah towers were rising from the ground, piercing the skies. There had to be over a dozen of them coming from the ground in all regions of Hyrule.

The tablet hanging from her belt started rumbling. She took it out to see that a portion of the map revealed itself as the Great Plateau. Link was also examining his slate, curious to see the map start to form before his eyes. He began turning back around to head down, but something caught his attention. He looked back towards where Hyrule castle was but a silhouette in the distance.

Alaya furrowed his brows, following his gaze to the Castle where glowing red pillars emerged from the ground to surround it. There was a small yellow light at the center of the Castle and if Alaya didn't know any better, she would have thought something was pulling him by invisible string as he walked cautiously towards the edge of the tower.

"What is it, Link?"

He didn't answer.

The ground shook again. The two Hylians braced themselves, eyes wide open as they watched a shadowy creature rose from thin air and circled the castle in a black mist.

Calamity Ganon.

Alaya shuttered, water pricking her eyes as she remembered her last day awake those hundred years ago. The screaming, the fear, the darkness…the death.

In that moment, she was reliving that day all over again.

Zelda and Link were nowhere to be found… The other knights were trying their hand at fending off the guardians — the creatures who tried eliminating everything in their path. She was all alone in a field with monsters of every race and guardians of all different advances charging at her.

She knew she was dead. If it wasn't for —

A gentle hand was on her shoulder, pulling her away from the horrific memory that was so prevalent in her mind. She turned to meet Link's soft, concerned gaze. Her heart instantly fell into a slower, calm rhythm.

"I think our duty is to kill whatever beast that is consuming the castle," he stated, looking back worriedly at the shadow monster.

All she could do was nod, heading straight for the way down the tower in hopes to evade having to see the darkness that now plastered Hyrule. Link climbed down right after, taking things a lot quicker than she did. The determination and concern radiated strongly off of him. She wanted to return the favor and place a comforting hand on him, but she grew reluctant at the notion.

The moment they set foot on the dirt ground, the man with the white beard came gliding down to them with a parasail in his grasp. He landed, taking his lantern-cane out and sighing.

Link seemed more shocked that he glided towards them than he was at the shadow beast surrounding the castle.

"It seems we have an enigma here," Rhoam said. "This tower and others just like it have erupted across the land. If you don't mind me asking, was there anything strange that happened to you while you were up on that tower?"

She looked over to Link, knowing full well that he felt a pull whereas she did not.

"I heard a voice."

Alaya's brows rose as her mouth slowly opened in shock.

"I see. Did you happen to recognize this mysterious voice?"

Link shook his head.

Rhoam turned towards the castle, pointing his stick in the direction where it stood. "I assume you two have caught sight of that atrocity enshrouding the castle. That is Calamity Ganon. One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin."

She shivered. Once again, the nuisance of tears pricked her eyes. As much as she tried to force them back, the memories came in like a flood: there was no stopping any of it. She shrank away from the two men, hoping to make herself feel smaller and less noticeable.

"For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, Hyrule Castle, has managed to contain that evil. But only just barely. There, it festers, building its strength for the moment it will unleash its blight upon the land once again. It would appear that moment is now fast approaching." He turned to look at the two of them. Alaya looked down, shielding the tears. "I must ask you, courageous Hylians, do you intend to make your way to the Hyrule Castle?"

Still looking down, she only managed to nod continuously, unable to speak. Link rested a hand on her shoulder, speaking for the both of them, "We do." His other hand was a clenched, warrior-like fist.

"I had a feeling you guys would. Here on this isolated Plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs with no way down. If you were to try and jump off, well…no death could be more certain. Of course, if you two had a para-glider like mine that would be quite a different story." The man was smirking now.

"Well, can you let us have it?"

Alaya finally looked into Rhoam's eyes.

"You see that shrine over there?" He pointed his stick to a glowing orange rock formation with a pedestal. "You retrieve whatever is in there for me and I will give you not only this glider, but a second one as well."

"Deal!" Alaya said without hesitation.

She was already on her way to the shrine before Link and Rhoam could get another word it.

It was time to get down to business.


	3. Two Shrines Down

**A/N:** Of course, I get more into the game of Breath of the Wild and come across an interesting memory that causes a little plot hole in the original idea of my story. Well, I tweaked it a little, but all is good and there is still mystery and drama to enjoy! Nothing has changed with any of the chapters posted so far, so you don't have to worry (but this new memory/plot hole that came about required me to delete 'Zelda' from the 'OC/Link' in the written summary. Other than that, everything is the same. Don't worry, stuff still happened between Link and Alaya. So look forward to finding that out!

Thank you, **Tsukuyane, hellfire45,** and **Awesomeness3013** for reviewing! I really appreciate it!

And thank you to all those who have followed/favorited the story. You guys keep me writing!

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 **Her Last Breath of the Wild**

 **Chapter Two: Two Shrines Down**

They made their way down into the depths of the shrine.

A voice from the ancient goddesses whispered Magnesis Trial as they to the center of the room.

Alaya looked down to see two metal doors planted firmly on the floor. She examined all around seeing that there was a small crack revealing an underground room.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, pulling her away from focus.

Oh, yes, she had let his name slip between her lips at the tower; how foolish of her. She avoided eye contact, viewing every inch of the room. Another slate insert was located on one side, waiting to be used.

"The man told me," she finally said.

"How does he know?"

Thankfully, her back was to him. Her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment and guilt at lying that he would have seen right through her whether he was gullible or not.

"You think I know what he knows? He told me to go to you for any information. Clearly, you don't have any. Now, would you put your slate in so we can get those paragliders?" Alaya's voice started to rise with frustration. No, lying was no good for her and it was obvious now that she had to avoid any and all questions that could be asked about the past.

He walked up to her, not fazed by her small rise in temper. Placing the slate on the pedestal, a blue droplet leaked down just as it did on the Sheikah tower. Both their slates seemed to be linked to one another as hers started to glow just as his was glowing. Pulling it out, she saw a small update on the slate claiming they had a new ability.

Alaya moved back to the metal doors, honing the ability she hoped she actually had — otherwise she would be waving her hands about like a fool for nothing.

Link watched her, waiting for something to happen. A red glow started to appear and she was able to use it to latch onto the metal doors, moving them to the side to reveal an underground pathway.

Behind her, Link clapped slowly. "I'm impressed. But you have to let me try the next one. This ability is amazing!"

Alaya gave him a smile. To see his eyes light up like they used to before everything was a sight she felt was too rare for its beauty. Just as soon as she looked at him, holding his gaze for longer than was normal between two acquaintances, she quickly turned away to go down the ladder. Thankfully, Link said nothing.

They walked through the tunnel until they found a stairway back up at the end.

"Alright, you said you wanted a shot at using this magnesis. Here's your turn," Alaya said, pointing to a wall of square boulders with a single metal block in the middle.

A small glance at her was taken before he mustered up the determination to move the metal block out from underneath the rest. The wall came crumbling down, revealing a small guardian already aiming at them with it's blue-beaming cyclops eye. It blasted it's laser at the two of them, causing them both to leap in opposite directions to dodge the impact.

Link unsheathed his sword from his side and took a single swing at it. That was all it took for the guardian to shut down immediately into a pile of metal.

Sighing, Alaya took the liberty to use her ability and move a metal board to cross the waters onto each platform. Link followed her closely behind. They made it to the end where there was a small platform raised to level with an ancient figure sitting still like stone with a glass wall surrounding it. Link went to the platform first, reaching out a hand to touch the glass. It shattered into thousands of pieces, vanishing into thin air.

It took them both aback.

"You have proven to possess the resolve of true heroes," the figure said. It had its hands folded in front of its dark gray, wrinkly chest. It had pointed ears behind long strands of white hair, and in the center of its forehead was a Sheikah eye. "I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial. I am a humble monk, blessed with he sight of Goddess Hylia an dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat Ganon. In the name of Goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you… Please take this spirit orb."

Two purple orbs came out of the soul of the monk, floating into the hands of both Link and Alaya. The two Hylians looked at each other with confusion but accepted the gift anyway.

"May the Goddess smile upon you…"

And the next thing they knew, they were back out in the world with the bright sunlight and tweeting birds. It wasn't until she was finally back outside that she realized how warm it was and how cold it was inside the shrine.

Link hopped off the shrine, moving towards who-knows-where until King Rhoam — the old man — came paragliding down to them once again.

"We get the paragliders now, right?" Alaya asked, jumping closing to him as she leaped down from the platform.

"I encourage you to slow down for a moment, my courageous friend," he said with a chuckle.

The respect and love she held in her heart for him made it easy to calm her anxiety before she pushed him much further.

"It seems that with the appearance of those towers and the awakening of this shrine… It's all connected to that Sheikah Slate you two carry on your hips there. It has been quite some time since I have seen that Sheikah Slate. Long ago, a highly advanced tribe known as the Sheikah inhabited these lands. The great power of their wisdom saved this kingdom time and time again. But their ancient technology disappeared long ago… Or so it is said."

Yes, it did disappear… But only temporarily. The technology came back to destroy everything —

The king interrupted her thoughts, continuing his speech. She was grateful for that. "It is interesting, however, to think how something like that survived all this time, hidden away in a shrine. These shrines are tucked away in numerous places all across this land. On this plateau alone are still three more."

Link and Alaya both raised a brow.

"Bring me the treasure from each of those shrines… Then I will give you my two paragliders."

Link shot his eyes wide open.

"But you said just this one!" Alaya insisted.

"I said treasure, but I never said there would be only one." He smirked, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Whether it's one treasure or four, what's the difference for young go-getters such as yourselves? Since I'm feeling generous, I'll tell you a trick for finding shrines. It's always best to survey the area from a high point. How about going back up that tower over there and taking a look?"

One look at the tower and Alaya threw her head back in exasperation. She hated the King's playful crypted-ness. It was much too tedious and time-consuming when they could be paragliding right then and there down to defeat the ugly beast that was about to unleash across all of the land.

Better to start now than never, she supposed.

Xxx

After pinpointing the three shrines on the tower, they made their way to the nearest one. They successful finished that one, obtaining the ability to use bombs as they willed and once that was completed with another gifting of a spirit orb, the two set up camp in the crumbling walls separating the plateau from the rest of Hyrule.

As Alaya ate a piece of her fruit and mushroom skewer that Link was crafty enough to make, she looked out to the shadowed castle, thinking back to the horrific last day she was awake. She remembered running to Calamity Ganon, willing to give her life for a single wake at the ugly beast, but she couldn't remember much after her running as far as to stand in front of him. Did she take a swing? Did he knock her out? Did someone intervene?

Nothing came to mind.

"Just two more shrines and we will be able to attack," Link assured her.

She didn't peal her eyes away from Calamity Ganon. Her eyes slowly narrowed at the beast. "You don't remember anything? Not this beast, not anything or anyone?"

He shook his head, sighing. "Do you?"

It was strange how some questions managed to form water in her eyes. Her voice struggled not to crack as she said answered, "No." She hated lying to him, but she felt it too late to tell the truth.

"We will get our memories back eventually. I don't know how, but I'm determined we will. You think we were good friends back then? This sounds crazy, but I feel close to you without remembering anything of my past."

That made her turn to look him in his ocean-blue eyes. She gave him a soft smile. "Maybe we were. We can figure out our forgotten past later. For now, I'm going to bed. We have two more shrines to go and I am starting to get adventure-crazy. I don't want to be stuck on this plateau forever."

He gave a firm nod in agreement. They made their pallets on the rock ground and eventually fell asleep. As difficult as it was from the slight glow of red light illuminating for the shadowed castle…


End file.
